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ACP News
ACP celebrates
American Pharmacists Month in October
ALBANY,
N.Y. (October 9, 2006) - ACP is recognizing American Pharmacists Month in
October with a variety of activities to highlight the vital and varied role
pharmacists play in medication management and the delivery of related health
care services.
"Albany College of Pharmacy is proud to celebrate the critical role the pharmacist plays in safeguarding the public health," said Dean Mehdi Boroujerdi, Ph.D. "More and more Americans' acute and chronic health needs are being addressed via medication therapy, and pharmacists are accessible experts who are committed to helping them get the most benefit from their medications."
ACP began its American Pharmacists Month observance with the traditional White Coat Ceremony for third-year Doctor of Pharmacy students on Friday, September 29 at the start of Family Weekend.
Approximately 200 members of the Class of 2010 made the ceremonial passage into the professional years of the Pharm.D. program during the ceremony in the Albert M. White Gymnasium. The ceremony recognizes both the students' achievements during the first two years of general studies in the basic sciences and humanities, and the core values that will shape them as pharmacy professionals. The students also took the Pledge of Professionalism, an important symbolic moment in the ceremony and in students' professional development.
Additionally, Albany Mayor Gerald D. Jennings and Albany County Executive Michael G. Breslin issued proclamations on behalf of ACP declaring October to be American Pharmacists Month in their respective communities.
ACP marked the 125th anniversary of its first lecture on Tuesday, Oct. 3 with the announcement that it will partner with the University of Rochester and eight other upstate New York academic and biomedical research institutions on a groundbreaking National Institutes of Health initiative to expand clinical and translational research.
The Upstate New York Translational Research Network will serve as a national model for regional collaboration and create a regional emphasis to expand biomedical research and training.
"Collaboration among individual investigators and institutions is a critical focus area in the advancement of research in the United States," said President James J. Gozzo, Ph.D. "The Upstate New York Translational Research Network will allow ACP to contribute our emerging expertise in nanopharmaceutical R&D and health outcomes research, as well as our well-established capabilities as a national leader in clinical pharmacy research."
On Thursday, Oct. 5, ACP's chapter of the American Pharmacists Association Academy of Student Pharmacists (APhA-ASP) and faculty advisor Macary Marciniak, Pharm.D., BCPS, joined their peers from pharmacy colleges in the Northeast and officials from national pharmacy organizations to officially launch American Pharmacists Month with rallies at the "Today" show in New York City .
The on-campus highlight of ACP's American Pharmacists Month observance will be the second annual ACP Health Fair from 11 a.m.-4 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 24 in the White gymnasium. All members of the University Heights community are invited to attend the event, which will feature information and services on a wide array of health issues, including cancer, diabetes, heartburn, heart disease, immunizations, kidney disease, organ donation, osteoporosis, reflexology, sexually transmitted diseases, smoking cessation and more.
The National Kidney Foundation will provide a free kidney disease screening program, and a walk-in flu shot clinic will be available from 1-4 p.m. on a first-come, first-served basis while supplies last. ACP faculty, staff and students will be able to make appointments for flu shots from 11 a.m.-1 p.m.
Founded in 1881, Albany College of Pharmacy is the oldest pharmacy school in New York state and one of the only private, independent pharmacy schools in the United States . The college has a long history of serving its students and health care professionals as one of the premier pharmacy colleges in the nation. The college now enters a new era in health care with a focus not only on pharmacy, but also on pharmaceutical sciences, biomedical technology and research.